Usubov Rustam

First Deputy Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan Republic Rustam Usubov on November 20, 2017 introduced to the Bar Association the idea of ​​punishment lawyers Yalchin Imanov, Neymat Kerimli, Asabali Mustafayev, Agil Laidzhev and Fakhraddin Mehdiyev, well-known in the protection of the rights of political prisoners.
20 November the Presidium of the Bar Association decided to suspend the powers of lawyer Yalchin Imanov, known for the protection of the rights of many political prisoners in Azerbaijan.
Presidium of the Bar Association apply to the court to exclude Y. Imanov from Bar. Before the court’s decision, Yalchin Imanov is suspended from participating in the defense.
The formal reason for such decision was the appeal to the Bar Association of the head of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice. In this appeal the lawyer was accused in “actions aimed at disturbing public order”.
Lawyer Yalchin Imanov appealed to the court about the facts of torture in Gobustan prison regarding his client Abbas Huseynov, lawyer Imanov also told the media about torture in Gobustan prison against Abbas Huseynov and other activists of the movement “Muslim Unity”.
The Penitentiary Service regarded this as “actions aimed at disturbing public order”.
Human rights defender Elshan Hasanov called deplorable the use of the Bar itself in eliminating the defenders unwanted by the authorities. Earlier, Alaif Hasanov, Aslan Ismayilov, Khalid Baghirov, Elchin Namazov and others well-known in the protection of the rights of political prisoners, lawyers were deprived of their legal powers in the same way.

The population of Azerbaijan in 2017 is about 10 million people. Rights of citizens since January 2018 will be entitled to protect only members of the Bar Association, whose number in November 2017 is about 930 people. The number of lawyers, who have courage and civil position to protect the rights of political prisoners is rapidly decreasing, in November 2017 – no more than 8-9 people.